Certified Financial Planner, author, radio and television personality, and inventor of the Buckets of Money strategy Ray Lucia at Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concert in San Diego, California, August 28, 2010. Photo by Andi Hazelwood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mr. Lucia currently hosts the weekday “Ray Lucia Show” which promotes investment strategies that focus on retirees. The SEC alleged that slideshows and other media used by Mr. Lucia to demonstrate the BOM strategy used misleading data to illustrate how a series of fictional portfolios would have performed during various markets over time.

According to an initial decision issued on Monday of this week by an administrative judge, Mr. Lucia made false claims that this “time-tested” investment strategy—geared towards providing retirees with inflation-adjusted income—had been “backtested” empirically during bear markets. The administrative judge further barred Mr. Lucia from any association with any investment broker or adviser and ordered Mr. Lucia’s San Diego-based law firm, Raymond J. Lucia Companies Inc., to pay $250,000. The firm’s investment adviser registration was also revoked.

Mr. Lucia was initially accused by the SEC last September of promoting the misleading “Buckets of Money” strategy at a series of investment seminars. These seminars were hosted by Mr. Lucia and his company and were put on for potential clients. According to the SEC’s September order instituting administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings, the backtesting on the “Buckets of Money” strategy evidenced by Mr. Lucia was insufficient. Further, the SEC alleged that Mr. Lucia made misrepresentations and omissions related to investment-adviser fees, returns on real estate investment trusts, and inflation rates.

Presently, Mr. Lucia is reviewing the opinion within the SEC’s case and is considering an appeal according to Wrenn Chais, Mr. Lucia’s attorney with Locke Lorde LLP in Los Angeles. “While we respect the commission and its regulatory processes,” said Wrenn, “we respectfully disagree with the majority of the findings of the opinion and the penalties assessed.”

The Carlson Law Firm is investigating potential claims related to this decision. Please feel free to contact our office if you feel you may have a claim at 619-544-9300.